- On May 18, three cases of Covid-19 were identified at the National School of Active Non-Commissioned Officers (ENSOA), in Saint-Maixent-L'Ecole. All are school officials.
- The massive screening campaign which has since been carried out on the military school site has identified 30 positive cases. At the same time, another case was identified in the hospital group.
- At this stage, the epidemiological investigation has not made it possible to establish a link between the two “clusters”.
Thirty positive people at Covid-19 at the Saint-Maixent-L'École military school, another at the Hospital Group in the small town of 6,500 inhabitants. For two weeks, Saint-Maixent (Deux-Sèvres) has been living to the rhythm of massive screenings, the largest operation of its kind organized in New Aquitaine since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. How did these sources of contamination appear and how were they brought under control? 20 Minutes takes stock when the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine recalls that "the virus is still circulating".
How were these two sources of contamination detected?
On May 18, three cases of Covid-19, all asymptomatic cases, were identified at the National School of Active Non-Commissioned Officers (Ensoa) in Saint-Maixent. They are three school officials and the first case detected was in contact with a sick member of his household. "The preventive and early detection of 44 contact persons identified by concentric circles revealed on May 22 two positive cases among instructors which leaves us suspecting a new source of contamination," explains to 20 Minutes Laurent Flament, Director of the delegation ARS Two Sevres. In parallel, a caregiver from the Haut-Val-de-Sèvre and Mellois hospital centers tested positive for Covid-19. He was showing symptoms.
How have the health authorities mastered these “clusters”?
ARS and the prefecture decide to launch a general screening of all 1,800 "civilians, students and military personnel" in the gymnasium of the army command school. More than 250 tests (nasopharyngeal sampling) are performed every half day, for a week. Ultimately, screening will involve 1,913 people. On Friday May 27, the results of the analyzes carried out by the Poitiers CHU laboratory fell: 30 positive cases, "all asymptomatic", distributed approximately in equal proportions between staff and students.
# covid19 | 👨🔬Last day of massive screening at the National School of Active Non-Commissioned Officers of Saint-Maixent-l'École.
The Prefect welcomes the organization of the teams mobilized by the ENSOA and the Army Health Service, with the cooperation of CH Niort. @Armees_Gouv pic.twitter.com/lxzouKHnMk
Each case "led to the isolation of people with Covid-19 with work stoppage at their home and to the systematic search for close cases at risk [contact persons]", summarizes Laurent Flament. In the hospital group, 250 tests are carried out among staff and 80 among patients in follow-up care and medical units where the caregiver tested positive evolved.
Are the foci of contamination circumscribed?
The results of large-scale screening confirm that "the outbreak is circumscribed and that the protocol for controlling the epidemic (rapid tests, investigation of contact cases and isolation) has once again broken the chain of contamination", ensures Laurent Flament, 20 Minutes away . As of this Wednesday, the tests on "D + 7" have started and by the end of the week it should be possible to know if the Ensoa is out of the woods. The military school had already reduced its activity to 50% during the confinement period, sending a number of students home. Post-May 11, it resumed “an activity adapted” to the context and to the recommendations, at around 75% of its capacity, that “nothing challenges today”, according to the army.
Read our file on the Covid-19
On the hospital group side, everything would also be back in order, according to the ARS, which nevertheless keeps an eye on the establishment, already "Covid-19 case focus a month ago". At this stage, the epidemiological investigation has not made it possible to establish a link between the two "clusters", even though many spouses of hospital staff work at the military school. According to our colleagues from La Nouvelle République , a parent of a student from Bignoux (Vienne), a soldier at Ensoa, tested positive at Covid-19. The school has been closed since Thursday.
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